DF Retro Marathon - Water Rendering In Games - The H2O Special 

My heart skipped a beat when I saw this, I thought it was Volume 3! We really need a vol. 3 to explore current gen water, like the amazing water systems in RDR2, Sea of Thieves, and Mario Odyssey just to name a few

It may not be the most impressive by today's standards but Wave Race water makes me the happiest. They encapsulated the spirit of a nice sunny day on the water.

This was (and is) a simply excellent series and I’m glad it’s now in an even higher quality. I’d be fascinated to see John or DF do similar videos for other elements eg. smoke

I’m so glad you spent so much time on Mario Sunshine and Halo 3. Those games still have some of the best looking water I’ve seen in a game. Mario sunshine has the visual authenticity and halo 3 has the interactive authenticity

The water in Wave Race 64 is still some of my favourite water effects in games.

I absolutely love this compilation. Ever since the Ps1 days I have been obsessed with water rendering and Skyboxes in games.

I remember being blown away by the water effects in Metal Gear Solid for PS1. I wish that had gotten a mention.

The water in Mario Sunshine is still impressive today. We get reflection, refraction and proper physics while swimming etc. Nintendo is the king of water and it all started with Wave Race 64!

I'm such a nerd for stuff like this. So glad DF still outputs such great DF Retro content.

This is one of the best things you guys have produced. More videos like this focusing on solutions for specific aspects of games please!

The PlayStation 1 game Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere showcases stunning water effects.

These were the videos that made me subscribe to DF way back, great to see it again in 4K

I'd still love to see a deep-dive on Trespasser. There's a lot to talk about with that game: the early full-world physics system (used even for player locomotion), the inverse-kinematics used for dinosaur animation, the impressively in-depth foley system for audio, the unusual world-scale 3D coordinates shared between levels, the production issues and behind-the-scenes drama with the game's development, Stephen Spielberg's involvement, the pre-release promotion vs. what was actually shipped, the work the fan community has done in terms of recovering lost content, etc.. I hope it's still on your radar to do! 🤞

GTA4 has great water and is kinda retro (it’s release date is closer the Waverace 64 than today)

Bringing me back to the good ol' days of Miiverse with this one.

These kind of videos is why I love DF> Please more of those.

Man, Waverace 64 day was such a great day. It was realised in the U.K. on my birthday. Got it from game at 8am and went to Alton Towers (U.K. theme park) with fiends and then got Pizza Hut and went home and had a sleep over and we played Waverace for about 8 hours straight. Thanks Mum 🙏🏻

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 has some great water simulation for pools. Cities skyline, despite being a city building game, has water displacement simulation that actually influences how you mould the landscape.

The water in 'Wave Race 64' is still quite impressive in my opinion. If someone in the hacking or modding community can manage to break the magician's code and bring the game up to full a 60FPS, that would be the dream man.

Videos like these are my favorites from DF

I never thought about it before, but in Metal Gear Solid on PS1, you start right next to water and can walk around in it full submerged. If you do, the camera drops down into the water, and I think it's the only time in the game that the camera actually looks up at Snake. It's a good artistic choice. The camera submerges to make the player feel as if they had been submerged with Snake. Logistically, I imagine this angle also allowed them to achieve their underwater effect by simply applying a filter to the camera. It looks great. Weirdly green, but everything looks appropriately wavy. Snake just movies a tiny, little bit slower, but his physics seem mostly unaltered. I love little technical details like that, which not only help creators clear logistic hurdles but actually help tell the story or express a vibe in a more abstract way. "You didn't notice it, but your brain did." Above the surface, the water slowly rises up and down in different intervals and has a nice (for its time) ripple effect. It's good, but that underwater camera shift is what this video has me thinking about, in particular.

The gameplay created by the water effects in WAVERACE 64 and subsequently the Gamecube sequel is still unmatched on any game to date........in my opinion

I Love John's videos and the way he dives deep into computer graphics.

What a fantastic episode, thank you very much John

Great series. DF Retro should also videos on the history of other FX. Reflections, fire, smoke, rain/snow/weather.

This one is minor and fairly obscure, but I recall at the time thinking the water in Ico on PS2 looked quite a bit better than in most other games of the era. There were only small pools of it here and there in some sections, but it was pretty detailed for the time.

I enjoyed this video immensely. Nothing better during a lazy Sunday afternoon. Keep em coming!

I stand by these two being the best episodes of DF. ❤

THIS WAS TOP CLASS! And this is the exact type of contest I like, Big ups!!!

I love telling younger people to go play waverace 64 to experience the water physics. To me it still feels as good as it did back in the day.

My fav DF video ever, please do more like this !

This is so relaxing and so pure. Thank you guys so much

John, you're a madman and find new ways for me to appreciate things even more through your crazy levels of knowledge and research. Keep it up!

Wow! This one took a lot of work and time to put together. I appreciate the effort. Great job!

This was FANTASTIC John. Thank you.

Fun fact: with a simple code, Mario Sunshine runs at 60 FPS no problem on a GameCube. The only issue you may encounter is with jumping into portals but it's only a slight issue where you have to wait a few seconds for it to appear.

Amazing video. Love this. Love water. Thanks for making this John

I will never forget seeing the water in Far Cry PC, had to get SFF Geforce cards in the Dell business computers we had at the office to game on them. Worth every penny.

The video I never knew I needed. Great stuff.

Great work as usual, John! I've always loved the different ways game devs portray water. Effects work in general is where a lot of the true artistry and wizardry are.

58:35 - Only 8 years since Hydrophobia? Feels much longer than that!

This episode was one of the best, really amazing!

YESS I've been waiting for this sort of video for so long! :)

I think BioShock DX10 and Tomb Raider Legend on the 360 were two of the stunning milestones in water rendering.

This man has the taste, the talent, and the trust of gamers everywhere. Vice Project Doom referenced straightaway? Hell yeah! Chef's kiss.

More like this please. Love the detailed history of a specific tech in games

I love this video! I really appreciate the effort that went into this!

I love these kind of videos. Great job John!

Donkey Kong Country (SNES), Wave Race (N64) and Far Cry Instincts Predator (Xbox 360) are three of my most memorable games in regards to water and water effects. I've been blown away by all of them through the years. Thanks for a fantastic video series! I'm looking forward to part 2.

This was most awesome. Enjoyed it thoroughly. Incredible work.

My favourite is the water in Tomb Raider 1. There's just something about the distortion, the way Lara moves in it, and the sound effects that combine to make it feel like water! Sea of Thieves is also excellent... Not only is it a beautiful and convincing water effect, but I've never jumped into video game water before and felt so completely out of my depth and vulnerable to what might be lurking beneath.

In Ratchet and Clank Going Commando PS2 there was a hidden developer museum. They had a demo of unused water tech you could run around in and it blew my mind as a kid.

I was blown away to see Water Animation in Pitfall 2 on Atari 2600.

Amazing videos. A part 3 would be awesome, plenty of new games and techniques to admire and discuss.

I absolutely love these tech deep dive (pun intended) videos. I adore the tricks used to make games when power was really limited and the tech behind is just so intriguing. Never stop doing these!

I would love to see a continuation of sorts for this, like sand and fire rendering/effects on gaming

I really love this format John! Nobody can do this type of video except for DF!

Thank you for this. Seriously...thank you!

I didn't expect a documentary series about my favorite topic of graphics. Love it!

Really interesting and complicated aspect of CG, thanks for bringing it up.

Great in-depth work as usual.

The intro to Sports Jam on Dreamcast had the best water, golf ball in the lake. "PLUNK!"

this is such an on brand DF video. 10/10

Legendary video, the first two parts made me sub instantly back then

I have always wanted a video about this. What a cool concept.

Another great Retro video, John.

Love you, DF!!!

I'll happily re watch this 😊

awesome video! enjooyed every bit of it, thank you!

Still my favorite DF thing ever. Peak cozy longform content.

Nestle approves this water video! Great job :) I love your retro docs ❤

crash bandicoot 3 had some mind blowing water back in the day; surprised it wasnt mentioned; it's always one of the first games that come to mind for me when thinking about water in games...

This is the best video that has ever been made, so much that I had to pause it to type this comment because I don't want to miss a second of it.

Just what I needed with this infernal heat !

What I love about Wave Race 64 is how you can really feel the water physics and it's the core of the gameplay. You really need to work with the water to stay low and go fast or go against it to jump or dive.

I really loved the look of water in the ps2/xbox/gamecube era. It didn't look real but it looked surreal.

You have no idea how long Ive been wait for someone to make a video on this type of thing Ive always felt nostalgic towards the water in Nintendo games specifically.

Nice documentary. I remember during the Bisohock Part how beautiful the art and especially the soundtrack of the game is. Fantastic

Ico windmill really impressed me back in day, played magazine demo religiously before release, Baldusr's gate dark alliance was also amazing for time

Another excellent DF Retro ep which is missing only todays most advanced water simulation in games to compare what amazing road graphics went to get here. Still great job, awesome show thx John and DF team!👍

amazing video, that's for this kind of stuff that i love DF :D During the PS1 era there is also the water levels in Crash Bandicoot 3 with impressive water deformation and physics a bit similar to Wave Race 64.

a video like this is my everything

I'm excited for this one!

This was a great "deep dive" into water effects, thank you for putting it together. Wave Race 64 blew my mind when it released. In my opinion the best in game water today is hands down Sea of Thieves, both visually and in the simulation.

Wave Race 64 was that true "Awe-inspiring" moment. As for current water effects, IMHO, Sea of Thieves has set the bar so ridiculously high that I don't really see it being topped for a very long time.

It’s insane how ahead of its time MGS2. Still some of the best looking rain ever, 24 years later. Will always love that game.

This was one of the first DF videos i had watched that got me into DF. It actually was a big moment for me because it influenced this cool game idea i had to be water based.

Such a good watch

I love water in video games. I'd love to see a compilation of brilliant contemporary examples of water sometime!

Can't believe John didn't mention Crash Bandicoot 3 water here. While the underwater levels convince me artistically, the multiple jetski levels are technically impressive for a ps1 with a wobbly surface and objects reacting accordignly (to me the later levels feel even more wavy than the first) all while holding a decent framerate.

Great video, thanks. Nowadays not only are we wanting realistic water but simulating tides too and how the water interacts with objects.

Finally! Water, the king of fluid gameplay!

Still my favourite episodes of DF RETRO.

My favorite DF Retro… so beautiful.

ok this is a stellar presentation about something so simple! nonstop puns

I watched the original upload about a week ago. Am I going to watch it again here because DF Retro is the best? Yes.

Great episode!

amazing! Thanks!

I will never forget the feeling I had as a child when I saw the representation of water in Mario Sunshine. It was the moment when I became more interested in the field of real-time rendering computer graphics than in games themselves. I am now working as an environment artist, although I did not major in computer graphics and only write code in GLSL as a hobby.

I think I should have mentioned Sonic Adventure 1 and 2, their water was really beautiful at the time of release, despite simple textures.